HAITI — Certified meteorologist Brian Shields went to Haiti as part of a team with his church to help people who are still suffering months after the effects of Hurricane Matthew. Here is a summary of his journey.
Last week, I traveled as part of a team from St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Winter Park to Haiti. As part of our Haiti mission, we partner with a parish for five years, then move to another parish. This helps the church from becoming dependent on us. Rather, our goal is for them to thrive independently.
We were able to bring lots of good news. Our fundraising has hit the point where we can start construction on a new church and a school. Their current church was condemned after the earthquake seven years ago. Even so, they celebrate Mass in it each day.
Their school “building” is nothing more than tarp walls and a tarp roof. All the grade levels are in the same enclosed area. The new school will be a sturdy structure to protect from the elements and will contain six classrooms. We also saw two latrines that we funded. Having a place to go to the bathroom is a critical health need.
On a school-related note, I met one girl who walks 3 hours to school and hours home. She walks 30 hours a week just to attend school, and the terrain she has to walk through is difficult to describe.
We spent the week assessing damage to their livestock. We’ve been able to support seven chapels with livestock, but many were killed in Hurricane Matthew. We are going to replace the livestock that were killed in the hurricane.
What was brought to light is that not only do they receive little weather information as a whole, they often receive false information, or what we’d call “fake news.” It is hard to distinguish what is accurate weather information and what is falsely put out there.
One amazing thing was that after St. Margaret Mary raised $40,000 in relief funds after the hurricane, the food got where it was supposed to go.
St. Margaret Mary has a network of amazing and trusted residents who helped buy the food and distribute it. In a tragedy like a hurricane, you almost always hear of chaos when rescue supplies are handed out. But in the chapel system run by trusted people, there were no problems. The only issue they had was “excessive sharing.” The Haitians are such a good people that when they receive something, they try to share it immediately. It’s just amazing.
We also assessed the agriculture program. We hired a local agronomist to start an agriculture program in the communities that we serve, and we’ve seen solid success.
The Peace Program is essentially what we would call a “youth group,” and it has been incredibly popular. They are overwhelmed by the number of kids joining. Essentially, other than trying to survive, there is nothing for the kids to do. The program teaches “conflict resolution” and is a great way to make friendships.
Eighty percent of the people are living in poverty, making it one of the poorest countries in the world. Sixty percent of the people live on $2 or less a day. Half the children don’t go to school. Six percent of babies don’t reach their first birthday. But programs like the methods implemented by St. Margaret Mary are working. Change is happening.
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